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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE AMERICAN HEN 
The Poor Man's Friend 




W. T. Mc'CONNELL 



*$r 



Copyrighted 1910 
W. T. McConncll 



TRIBUNE PREiS. DELANO, 



©CLA27J 



FOREWORD. 

The chief merit of this little book is 
t:hat it is true. I have been prompted 
to write it that I might point out the 
way to a certain class of people where- 
by they might add a few dollars in 
spare time to their all too meager income 
in these days of high prices. I am go- 
ing to tell my story in a simple straight- 
forward manner so that you may see 
when you have finished reading it, just 
how simple a thing it is to make a sin- 
gle hen produce $20 or more in the 
course of one. year. 

I have read a good many books on 
poultry raising which told how to se- 
cure handsome profits, but they have 
all dealt with the business on such a 
large scale that it wasn't feasible for a 
person with small means or one who 
did not desire to devote all their time 
to the industry. 

Some poultry men who have told of 
their success have been able to show 
almost incredible earnings after several 
years of experience and securing a long- 
list of prize winnings, and others be- 
cause they were located near a market 
which afforded them from 40 to 60 



cents a dozen for eggs the year round. 

This is the faithful account of how 
a beginner, inexperienced in the poul- 
try business, located in a village far 
from city markets, made $20 per hen 
with a small flock the first year, and it 
is an experience which can be dupli- 
cated by anybody, anywhere. 

1 wish 1 was able to distribute this bit 
of information free, but I am a poor 
man and it costs money to print this 
little book, advertise it extensively and 
mail it to interested people. Hence I 
am compelled to make a small charge. 



How I Began. 

My imagination was fired by reading- 
certain poultry books and journals and 
I began planning to make an experi- 
ment. I had raised a mongrel lot of 
chickens for many years for supplying 
my table with meat and eggs, but I now 
began to study the different breeds 
with a view of selecting some one variety. 
And with all the attractive free liter- 
ature that is offered you setting forth 
the merits of each particular breed it 
is no easy matter to make a selection. 

After much study and investigation 
I selected the Single Comb Crystal 
White Orpington of the Kellerstrass 
Strain, and for reasons that I will de- 
tail in a later chapter. 

As a beginning I purchased 15 eggs 
for $3. From these eggs I raised four 
fine birds, one male and three females. 
This did not give me as large a pen as 
I wanted and I began looking about for 
some pullets. I experienced some dif- 
ficulty in getting what I wanted, but 
the party from whom I had secured m\ 
eggs in the spring had a few August 
hatched pullets that she was offering 
at $2.00 each at eight weeks of 
age. I finally traded a $5.00 

Cycle Hatcher, which had been 
used one year, for two choice puUets. 
Then I found a man who had three 



Pen of Chickens 




This was my original pen of White Orpingtons 
consisting of Eight Pullets and a Cockerel. 



<I They represent an outlay of about $12.00, 
and gave me a return of almost $200.00 the 
first year. 



July hatched pullets from the same pen 
as mine and these I bought for $5. Fig- 
uring my incubator at $4, I now had 
a pen of eight fine pullets and one cock- 
erel at an outlay of $12. It is easy to 
see that had I invested my $12 in eggs 
in the spring I would have had two or 
three times as many chickens for the 
same money. Or, had I been an ex- 
perienced and careful poultryman, I 
might easily have had as many chick- 
ens from my first investment of $3 for 
eggs as I now had for $12. But they 
all grew well and developed into fine 
birds and I was highly pleased with my 
investment. 



My Poultry Plant. 




1$ This is a cut showing ray Poultry Plant 
which is fully described in the following chap- 
ter. 

(§ The material in this Coop and Yard cost 
between $3.00 and $4.00. 

<J This Coop and accompanying Yard, whit h 
was 12x24 feet, accommodated 9 birds. 



How I Cared For My 
Chickens. 

Now that I had my chickens the next 
thing was how to care for them. I built 
a simple little coop, the material in 
which cost about $2. 

In making this coop I used strips of 
lumber two inches wide. For the back 
I made a frame six feet long and thirty 
inches high. For the front, one frame 
six feet long and eighteen inches high 
and one six feet long and twelve inches 
high. For the ends I made two frames, 
each three feet long and twenty-eight 
inches high. These frames were then 
covered with paroid roofing except the 
small one for the front, which was 
fried with glass and placed above the 
eighteen inch frame. The sides and 
ends were put together with screws. 
The roof was made in a similar manner 
except that it was made six feet and 
one inch long to extend over the ends 
of the coops a trifle. The roof was 
hinged to the back frame of the coop, 
and a strip of wood about one-half 
inch thick, one and one-half inches wide 
and three feet long with holes bored 
certain distances apart in it, was used 
to hold the roof in any desired position. 
A light frame was made to fit the top 
of the coop and slide easily between the 



front and back of the coop from end 
to end. This frame is covered with a 
wire netting to keep the chickens from 
flying out when the lid is up, and in 
winter is also covered with muslin to 
keep out the cold drafts. The space 
made by the ends being lower than the 
sides of the coop admits plenty of fresh 
air for the fowls when the lid is down. 
A floor was placed in one end of the 
coop and raised about two inches from 
the ground. This provides a dry place 
in which straw can be scattered. Some 
paroid roofing over the floor is an ad- 
vantage as it keeps dampness from the 
ground out of the straw. This floor 
covered about one-half of the bottom 
of the coop. In the other end and 
against the back of the coop was placed 
the roost board. The roost board was 
made in the following manner : A 
frame was made out of seven-eights 
inch by one and one-half inch strips. 
It was fifteen inches wide and two feet, 
ten inches long, and the bottom was 
made by nailing paroid roofing to the 
frame. Two small blocks were nailed 
to the ends of the frame on which to 
rest the ends of the perch and raise the 
perch three or four inches from the bot- 
tom of the roost board. 

In the center of the coop to separate 
the floor end from the dirt was placed 
an eight-inch board edgewise, and held 
in place by cleats on the front and back 



sides of the coop. This keeps the chick- 
ens from scratching the straw out upon 
the dirt- 'floor end of the coop. 

' The roost board is supported by 
, cleats nailed upon this center board and 
the end of the coop. In the morning 
the roost is removed and this allows 
more space for the fowls during the 
•day. Galvanized hoppers for feed and 
water are fastened to the sides of the 
-coop. 

In this coop I kept my fowls con- 
fined during the winter. I believe, how- 
ever, that for this number of chickens 
the coop should have been a little larg- 
er. In spite of the fact that last winter 
was one of the severest in this section 
of the country for many years, my 
chickens- were comfortable and happy, 
i did not have even a frozen comb. 

When the warm weather came I ar- 
ranged a little run in connection with 
tue coop. In order to make this por- 
tage I made my fence in panels. Each 
panel was made in the following man- 
ner : Two six inch boards twelve feet 
long were laid horizontal on the ground 
four feet apart and joined at their ends 
with six-inch boards five feet long. The 
panel was then covered with wire net- 
ting five feet in width. I made the 
panels with one board next to the 
ground and the upper board dropped 
one foot from the top of the wire or 



end board and on the inside of the 
wire. The object of this was that in 
the event the chickens undertook to fly 
out, they would attempt to alight on the 
board and be forced back by the wire 
extending above the board. 

Make as many panels as you want, 
place them end to end and wire togeth- 
er. I made three, using two for one 
side of my pen and one for an end. My 
barn served for the opposite end and a 
garden fence for the other side. This 
enclosed a parcel of ground 12x24 ^ eet - 
Placing one end of the coop against the 
fence and making an opening in both 
the panel and the end of the coop, al- 
lowed the chickens to pass from the 
coop to the run. 

Xow for the feeding. This is not a 
treatise on fancy or scientific feeding. 
Had I fully understood this my results 
might have been much better. My prin- 
cipal feed was a mixture of grain, grit 
and oyster shell, such as is found in 
most grocery and feed stores and sold 
as Scratching Food. In addition to 
this, I kept beef scrap, bran and char- 
cord before my chickens, and for green 
stuff, in the spring and summer I threw 
them lawn clippings each day. In the 
whiter I gave them sprouted oats, and 
1 have fed some short cut alfalfa. 

Sprouted oats is a very cheap feed 
and easy to provide. I had a shallow 



box four feet long, two feet wide and 
two inches deep. It was made by tak- 
ing light material two inches wide and 
making a frame and nailing laths cross- 
wise for a bottom. I put my oats box 
in the basement of my house, covered 
the bottom with oats to the depth of an 
inch; sprinkled the oats thoroughly 
with tepid water morning and evening' 
and in a very few days I had a luxur- 
iant patch of green oats. 

Each day I took out a small quantity, 
roots and all, tore it to pieces and threw 
it to my flock, in feeding alfalfa it i^ 
well to soak it over night in water and 
in the morning, or at whatever time you 
want to feed it, mix it with a mash of 
meal and bran and pour hot water over 
it. When it has cooled sufficiently feed 
in a hopper. Don't put in too much at 
first for generally the chickens have to 
learn to like it. 

Table scraps and milk both make 
most excellent poultry feed, bu": with 
no cow, a small family, frugal wife and 
several cats, I had but very little of these 
choice morsels. 

Occasionally in the winter I would 
cook the potato peelings or a mess of 
small potatoes and feed while warm to 
my fowls. 

My conclusion cf the whole matter in 
caring for chickens is to keep them 
warm in winter, and cool in summer. 



Furnish them a good variety of feed 
and keep plenty of fresh water before 
them, and milk if you can. Keep the 
quarters clean and free from lice and 
mites. 



How I Found a Market. 

.Two of my pullets began laying when 
barely five months old and in January 
they all got down to business. I was 
anxious to get a more definite idea of 
the laying qualities of each hen. I sent 
for four trap nests which came in two 
sections, two nests in each section. I 
placed these nests in the floor end of 
my coop, one section sitting on the oth- 
er. I put a leg band with a number on 
each hen. In another chapter I will 
give you some of my results. 

In February I began advertising in 
the poultry journals. I inserted this 
little classified advertisement in two 
poultry journals: 

"Crystal ' White Orpingtons, Keller- 
strass Strain. Selected eggs ' from a 
pen of beauties at reasonable prices. 
W. T. McConnell, DeLand, Illinois." 

I kept this advertisement running for 
three or four months. In oiw paper it 
cost me 60 cents and in the other 80 
cents an issue. 

They brought me scores and scores 
of inquiries from many different states. 
To these inquiries I replied as promptly 
as possible telling just what I had and 
offering 15 eggs for $3 and 30 eggs for 
$5. At these prices I sold $70 worth 
of eggs, and was compelled to return 
some monev for the reason that I could 



not supply the eggs at the time they 
were wanted. Also I had many inquir- 
ies for eggs ir. quantities of 50 and 100 
eggs at a time. To these I always replied 
that I was not prepared to handle or- 
ders of that size. You can readily see 
that the only reason I did not make 
more money was because I did not have 
more hens. 

And this I did without being able to 
advertise a single prize winning bird. 
Not but what my flock contained some 
birds that were fit to be shown, but be- 
ing late hatched, none of them were 
finished at the time of the early shows, 
and as they were laying at the time of 
the later shows, since I had so few I 
did not want to disturb them. The de- 
mand for eggs was so great thai 
unable to save many for my own use, 
but occasionally I placed a few under 
a hen or in the incubator with other 
eggs. In this way I hatched several 
and after losing a good many I find 
myself this fall with 2y fine young birds. 
Of this number there are four fine cock- 
erels, three of which will sell readily 
for $5 each and one for $3. There are 
nine early hatched pullets that I can 
sell any day for $5 each, and 14 later 
hatched that are worth today from $2 
to $3 each, or an average of $2.50 each. 

Here is the statement : 
Eggs for hatching $70.00 



3 cockerels at $5 15-00 

1 cockerel 3.00 

9 pullets at $5 45.00 

14 pullets and cockerels at $2.50. 35.00 

Total $168.00 

Dividing this result by 8 we have an 
average of $21 per hen, and by the end 
of the year when the younger birds 
shall have more nearly matured we can 
add $25 or more to their value. 

So you can see I have made my claim 
far under the truth rather than above 
it. Not only so, but one of my hens 
was a drone or else not exactly right. 
She never laid more than a dozen or 
fifteen eggs and died early in the hot 
season. In reality, therefore, my re- 
sults have been from seven hens in- 
stead of eight. If you will estimate 
for the whole year, adding $25 to pres- 
ent value of young stock, making a to- 
tal of $193, and divide by 7 you will 
get an average of $27.57 per hen. 

This is certainly a very good return 
for the money invested and labor ex- 
pended. 

These results have been secured by 
one with no particular skill in poultry 
raising or genius in advertising, and 
who had only ordinary success in hatch - 
ing and raising the chicks. In fact, I 
cften felt that I lacked considerably in 
having even ordinary success. How- 
ever, seme of the poultry journals tell 



us that this has been one of the worst 
years in a decade for fertility of eggs 
and vitality of chicks, and so I feel en- 
couraged. 

Accordingly I feel justified in saying 
that what I have done cannot only be 
duplicated by anybody, anywhere, but 
many by following similar lines can do 
far better. In fact I expect to do much 
better myself next year. 

1 can name two parties within twenty 
miles of me who by working along the 
same lines have done better than I. One 
is a woman who has had the care of an 
invalid sister and her family, and in 
about four years has built up a fine 
flock and an excellent business. This 
year she won second pullet at the Illi- 
nois State Poultry Show and third hen 
at the Illinois State Fair at Springfield. 
The other is a photographer with an 
extensive business. He began about 
five years ago and today has the most 
valuable flock of white Orpingtons 
the state. At the Illinois State fair 
this year in a class of 160 entries he 
won i st and 2nd hen, ist cockerel, ist, 
2nd and 3rd pullet. 

I am working with all my might to 
build up a flock that will beat them and 
expect to catch up soon. I mention 
them to give additional proof of what 
I have said before and now say again 
that what I have done can be done by 
anybody, anvwhere. 



How I Packed Eggs For 
Shipping. 

I do not know that my way is the 
easiest or best, but it is a very satisfac- 
tory way to me. I shipped eggs to 
many different states and never heard 
of but one egg being broken. 

I bought cheap market baskets at the 
grocery store for 5 cents each, and a 
cheap grade of unbleached muslin for 
coverings. The merchants gave me 
all the excelsior I wanted to carry away. 
I lined the basket with paper and cov- 
ered the bottom with excelsior. I then 
wrapped each egg in paper and placed 
four rows of eggs with three eggs in 
each row on the excelsior in -the bottom 
of the basket. This done, I placed little 
rolls of excelsior wrapped in paper be- 
tween the eggs, making it impossible 
for one egg to touch another or the side 
of the basket. Next I covered this layer 
of eggs with a heavy paper, put in more 
excelsior and another layer of eggs as 
before and so on until the basket was 
filled. I rounded up the top of the bas- 
ket with excelsior, placed a paper over 
top of this, cut my cloth the right size, 
aid sewed the cloth with heavy thread 
or twine to the edge of the basket, 
drawing it down tightly. With some 
flour paste I pasted a large label on the 



muslin covering. On this label I had 
printed in large type "Eggs for Hatch- 
ing, Handle Carefully," and in smaller 
type directions for the treatment of 
eggs by the customer. In blank places 
for that purpose I wrote my own name 
and address, and the address of the 
customer. The eggs were then ready 
for delivery to the expressman. 

But be as careful as ycu may in car- 
ing for your chickens and in gathering 
and packing your eggs, that you may 
please your customers, you will have 
varying experiences. 

I am going to give you an illustration 
drawn from the letters of two custom- 
ers : 

W. T. McConnell, DeLand, 111. 

Dear Sir: I set the 30 S. C. White 
Orpington eggs on April nth and to- 
day I took off 27 chicks. I am well 
pleased with the result. 

Yerv truly yours, 



Within a week from the receipt of 
the above letter I had a letter from an- 
other customer who had eggs from the 
same hens and whom I had tried as 
carefully to please : 

W. T. McConnell, DeLand, 111. 

Dear Sir : Being so disappointed in 
the hatching of these eggs we got of 
vou, thought it be^t to write. Of those 



there being 4 eggs that the hens broke 
and the other eggs, which are 18 in 
number, being in the nest; there are a 
few of them that had little chickens m 
them, but having died before they were 
matured, and some of them were simply 
rotten, no life whatever. I am very 
much disappointed as I took the best of 
care of them. I think it is too bad. 
From 



Of course such a letter makes you 
feel badly, especially from the evident 
purpose of the customer to place all the 
blame upon you, when you know you 
have exercised the same care that has 
enabled another customer to have the 
most gratifying success. 

Fortunately, that was the only letter 
of the kind I received. Xot all my cus- 
tomers reported such good success as 
the first letter printed, but many re- 
ported good hatches, ranging from 23 
to 25 chicks from 30 eggs. A few 
thought their hatches unsatisfactory 
and wrote me very nice letters about it. 
and I replaced their eggs, as I did also 
to the one whose letter I have given 
you 



Why I Selected The 

Kellerstrass Strain of Single 

Comb Crystal White 

Orpingtons. 

I have congratulated myself many 
times that I selected the Crystal White 
Orpington, Kellerstrass strain of chick- 
ens. While I feel sure I could have 
done handsomely with any good breed 
of chickens, I doubt if I could have 
done as well as I did with anv Other 
breed. 

For there is no breed that is attract- 
ing so much attention and for whicn 
there is " so great a demand at hand- 
some prices as the White "Orpington, 
and there is a reason. 

The White Orpingtons are of splen- 
did size, averaging from a half pound 
to a pound heavier; than the -Plymouth 
Rocks and Wyandottes. They are low 
set, deep breasted, with broad backs and 
large thighs. They are the finest type 
Of fowl for table use and market. 

As layers they have established a 
record that has never been excelled. 
They have won nearly all the egg lay- 
ing contests in which they have been 
entered. 

The combination for which people 



have been searching for years is found 
in the Crystal White Orpington. The 
best layers have been too small for ta- 
ble use or profitable for market. The 
large chickens suitable for table and 
market have been poor layers. The Or- 
pington is the happiest combination. 

In point of beauty they are without a 
peer. Their beautiful pure white plum- 
age and large well-rounded bodies ap- 
peal to every one with an eye for the 
beautiful. 

They are hardy and mature rapidly. 
I hey lay almost without ceasing. After 
securing my trap nests. 1 kept a careful 
record of my hens for 30 days. 1 in- 
stalled the nests March 5th and the rec- 
ord is for the 30 days fohowing : No. 
40, laid 27 eggs; Xo. 50, 2J \ Xo. 18, 
28: Xo. 16, 26; Xo. 14, 20; Xo. 42, 19; 
XO. 44. 18; Xo. 47. 8. 

As No. 47 died early in the season 
and seemed never to have been exactly 
right, I have left her out of the egg 
calculation. 

We have an average from the seven 
hens of 2^ 4-7 eggs in 30 days. From 
four of the hens we have an average of 
zy eggs in 30 days. 

It would have been interesting to ha\ e 
kepi; this record for the entire year, but 
in order to do it, especially when the 
weather is warm, one must be close at 



hand to release the hens from the trap 
nests. For this reason I could not con- 
tinue the test, but from the total num- 
ber of eggs I received I am satisfied 
that four of my hens at least are easily 
in the 200 class. 

In conclusion I want to say that this 
work has been done with an average of 
about 30 minutes each day, and with- 
out in the least interfering with my 
other duties. To me it has been a very 
pleasant as well as profitable diversion, 
and I hope that my story may be help- 
ful to you in the way of enabling you 
to utilize in a profitable manner your 
spare moments each day. 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 
)EC ■'• 1910 



